Car coupler hitching-pin retaining means



May 30, 1950 w. R. STAMLER 2,509,459

CAR COUPLER HITCHING PIN RETAINING MEAN$ Filed Nov. 1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR William R. Sfam/er BY v ATTOR N EYS' May 30, 1950 w. R. S TAMLER 2,509,459

CAR COUPLER HITCHING PIN RETAINING MEANS Filed Nov. 1, 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheer. 2

INVENTOR W/Y/iam RSfam/er Mata v- ATTORNEYS Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED OFFICE can court-En m roHmo m RE 'rEAi-NiNG MEANS w en it. Stamler, fia dazi, hypertensive to rhe nrdwmraym company, Johnstown, Pa, a corpoi'ation or Pennsylvania Application November 1, @515; serial No; 6 23:93?! BClaiitis; (cutie- 188) merits 6f the bar ends, "until frequency the pin finally upwardly st far that it falls but, thus resumes in wreaks;

One object of my invention to provide a saft iatbh which s of simple form and which, nevertheless, will effectively prevent accidental withdrawal or "working out of a hitching pih.

Another object of my invention to provide a latch of the character referred to that will permit of the insertion of the hitching pin in the usual manner but which will automatically move into position to retain the pin against upward movement.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a mine car; with my invention applied thereto;

lf'igure 21s a plan view thereof; lfg igure Bis an end view thereof; Y Figure dis a-side view showingfthe safety latch in "released positionand with the hitching pin partly withdrawn; and

Figure 5 is a plan view showing a modified location of the safety latch.

In the accompanying drawing, only so much of a car is shown as is necessary to an understanding of the invention. A car bumper is shown at 6, the car end at I, the upper draw bar of the car at B, and a portion of a coupling link at 9. These parts may all be of any conventional form.

The hitching pin extends through the top draw bar 8, through the link 9, and into the bumper 6, the other end of the link 9 being connected to another car (not shown). The pin is provided with an annular shoulder II and a flattened upper portion [2 by which it can conveniently be inserted and removed.

A pivoted latch member 14 is carried by a pivot pin or shaft [5 that extends through upstanding bracket members l6 that are bolted or oth-' erwise suitably secured to the draw bar 8. As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, the latch member 14 has a weighted extension I! that serves as a. counter weight to normally hold the latch member [4 in the position shown in Fig. 1, at which position a projection IS on the latch member I overlies the shoulder ll of the hitching pin.

the hitching pin starts to creep up, it's shoulder 1i will ehga etii pre eetrsn s, and the pin win 'tueieby te held aga nst further upward movement. upward t rusts er the pin am only tend t6 the latch mem er M in "a clockwise dir tioii, raising the extension 11 against 1: a, thus firmly lock the pm aga nstrurme u were movement.

The pin it is withdrawn irer the purpbse sf unsealed g ears by pressing on the latch isiea eporhpn lite mate theflatch m a counterion, to ap mximately the position sheen *F irwhereupon thepin to can be lifted out of the coupling link. The -radius er insem nation iewith respect ts the axis of the gsnart it iss'ii'c'h that it will clear the summer y r hitch ng pin, instead or at the rear side of the i1 "ofthe pm during swinging movements of the iate member M, when the pin in its lowest pe itidn;

: m pan ling t licais, the pin is inserted by yuibp jmg it st'ijaigiit sewn. fIhe weightof the forces the iatch out 6f the way and allows the pi its engages position without In Fig. '5, I the latching element It and its uppertmgprackets ilimounted fartherforoiithefdra'w ba'r senate one side of the iiitfiin ipin in the other figures. In this ar- "ifahgihht or Ffg. tyt'he latch element M: can be more tioiivni ent ly manipulated by one standing at the side of thecar, since he will not have to reach between the hitching pin and the car end to manipulate the latch element when swinging it to its release position.

The invention is not limited tothe preferred embodiments but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A car coupling device comprising a hitching pin having a shoulder adjacent to its upper end, a support for the pin, a latch member pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis on said support, a projection carried by the latch member and movable into latching position above the shoulder when the latch member is swung in one direction, and means for holdin the projection in its latched position to limit upward movement of the pin, the latch member being manually movable in the opposite direction to release position, said holding means comprising an extension on the latch member at that side of the pivotal support which is opposite said projection, and a stop below said extension for positively limiting down It .55 ward movement of said extension.

2. A car coupling device comprising a hitchin pin having a shoulder adjacent its upper end, a support for the pin, a latch member pivotally mounted on said support, on a horizontal axis located in a plane above said shoulder, a downwardly-sloping projection carried by the latch member in position to overlie the shoulder when the latch member is in one position, a counter weight on the latch member extending to that side of the pivot which is opposite said projection, and serving to normally hold the latch member with its projection in overlying relation to said shoulder, and a stop below said counter weight for positively limiting downward mover 4 5. A car coupling comprising a draw bar, a. link, a hitching pin extending through the draw bar and the link, a shoulder adjacent the upper end of the hitching pin, a latch member pivotally mounted on the draw bar, a projection carried by the latch member and movable into latching position above the shoulder when the latch mem ber is swung in one direction, and an extension on the latch member extending to that side of the pivot which is opposite said projection for holding the projection in its latched position to limit upward movement of the pin, the latch member being manually movable in the opposite dimounted on said support, on a horizontal axis 10- cated in a plane above said shoulder, a downwardly-sloping projection carried by the latch member in position to overlie the shoulder when the latch member is in one position, and a counter weight on the latch member extending to that side of the pivot which is opposite said projection, and serving to normally hold the latch support for the pin, a latch member pivotally mounted on said support, on a horizontal axis located in a plane above said shoulder, a downwardly-sloping projection carried by the latch pin having a shoulder adjacent its upper end, a

member in position to overlie the shoulder when the latch member is in one position, and a counter weight on the latch member extending to that side of the pivot which is opposite said projection, and serving to normally hold the latch member with its projection in overlying relation to said shoulder, a portion of the latch member being .extended to serve as a lever by which the latch member may be swung to inoperative position when it is desired to remove the hitching pin,

said support acting as a stop for positively limiting downward movement of said counter weight.

rection to release position, said shoulder being disposed circumferentially of the axis of the pin, whereby it will be engaged and held by said projection at any rotative position of the pin, said draw bar acting as a stop for positively limiting downward movement of said extension.

6. A car coupling device comprising a hitchin pin having a shoulder adjacent it upper end, a support for the pin, a latch member pivotally mounted on said support, a projection carried by the latch member and movable into latching position above the shoulder when the latch member is swung in one direction, an extension on the latch member extending to that side of the pivot which is opposite said projection for holding the latch member with its projection in latching position to limit upward movement of the pin, and means for automatically pushing the latch member to its release position during insertion of the pin to its seated position in a coupler, the latch member being thereafter automatically returned to its latchin position, said support acting as a stop for positively limiting downward movement of said extension.

WILLIAM R. STAMLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 43,734 Carey Aug. 2, 1864 258,088 Macarthy May 16, 1882 403,531 Grant May 21, 1889 1,640,413 Kurtz Aug. 30, 1927 

